CHAPTER XIV. 



VARIOUS ITEMS. 

 THINNING THE FKUIT. 



"1% /POST of our American varieties of the grape do not 

 set their bunches as closely upon the cluster as do 

 the foreign kinds. This is owing in some cases to the 

 flowers being imperfect, and in other cases to the length 

 of the pedicles, and the long spaces in which they are 

 arranged upon the peduncle. As a general rule, it is not, 

 therefore, necessary to thin our bunches. This is fortu- 

 nate ; for it would otherwise involve a great amount of 

 labor in the vineyard. Some varieties are quite too loose 

 in their bunches, the Scuppernong for example, having but 

 very few berries set separately upon a long peduncle. On 



the other hand, a few kinds, such as the Diana, Herbe- 

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